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Multi-format set / Oral History of Alexander Tran

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Summary information.

Title
Oral History of Alexander Tran
Creator
Tran, Alexander
Contributor
Nguyen, Cynthia
Date Created and/or Issued
2019-02-12
Contributing Institution
UC Irvine, Libraries, Southeast Asian Archive
Collection
Viet Stories: Vietnamese American Oral History project
Rights Information
Copyrighted
This material is provided for private study, scholarship, or research. Transmission or reproduction of any material protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Contact the University of California, Irvine Libraries, Special Collections and Archives for more information (spcoll@uci.edu).
Description
Scope/Content: An oral history of Mr. Alexander Tran who was born on March 8, 1984, in Orange, California. His family immigrated to America in 1975 through connections with the U.S. Embassy. His parents were first located in Oklahoma before they decided to relocate in Southern California. Throughout his K-12 education, Alexander hopped around from different schools that had primarily dominant Vietnamese populations among the students. In 2002, he began his studies as an art major at UC Irvine and later dropped out of school in 2005. In 2008, Alexander became apart of an organization called the Viet Rainbow of Orange County, where he found a supportive group of people who focus on LGBTQ issues within the Vietnamese community. Currently, he resides in Irvine, California with his parents and attends Santa Ana College. He also works as a pharmacy tech at Kaiser Permanente and, in his free time, he does freelance makeup and volunteers with the VROC organization.
Scope/Content: At what point in time can one pinpoint the beginning of Vietnamese America? Does it begin with the Fall of Saigon? Does it begin with the creation of Little Saigons throughout America? In looking to define Vietnamese American experiences, do we limit what it has been and what it could be? Whatever the entry point, experiences of Vietnamese Americans are inextricably tangled with the political, economic, and social structures of racial, class, and gender hierarchy in the United States and notions of authenticity and nationalism. Thus, to begin learning what the Vietnamese American experience entails, is to also begin unlearning. This course seeks to understand, unravel and complicate what Vietnamese America is through a critical refugee and critical race lens. By analyzing various issues, we are able to see how Vietnamese Americans are affected by larger societal forces such as capitalism and imperialism. This course aims to: 1. To introduce the student to the history, culture, and contemporary experiences of Vietnamese Americans, highlighting how power and privilege entangles them all together. 2. Expand current discourse around social issues that affect Vietnamese Americans by using both scientific literature, creative works and scholarly articles. 3. Expose students to the multitude of historical, contemporary and local Vietnamese American narratives, taking advantage of the proximity to one of the largest Little Saigons.
Scope/Content: Alex and Cynthia after the first interview, photographer Cynthia Nguyen, 2019.
Type
sound
Format
2 mp3 audio files; 2 pdf transcriptions English; 1 pdf time log; 1 pdf life map; 8 jpg image files
Extent
01:08:58
Identifier
ark:/81235/d8pk1c
VAOHP0370
http://hdl.handle.net/10575/14622
Language
English
en
Subject
Activism | Art | Catholic | College | University | Culture | Education | Family | Identity | Intergenerational gap | LGBTQ | Makeup | Religion | Sexuality | Tradition | Custom | Vietnam War | University of California, Irvine | Orange, California | Irvine, California | Santa Ana, California
Time Period
1980-1989
Relation
Vietnamese American Experience Class Oral Histories, 2019 Winter

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